Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Twin Tuesday: SCRIBBLES

Hey Y'all,

I hope that you are having a terrific summer thus far. It has been a whirlwind of activity for me. The kids keep me going and I love it. This has been the first summer of their lives that I've been with them 24/7. I try to keep them as busy as possible so we all sleep well at night. Our days start off with Mommy Summer School and branch off (depending on the day) to $1 movies, swimming, visiting museums and day trips. I have a calendar chuck full of summer fun, until they head off to Nana's (thank you JESUS).

This Twin Tuesday's post is dedicated to the twins' favorite "play mall" SCRIBBLES. SCRIBBLES is a fantastic interactive and educational store in the Menlo Park Mall that features personalized gifts for children & educational toys. We visit SCRIBBLES at least once a week and hang out there for about 2-3 hours (yes hours in one store). Typically we don't purchase a thing (unless it's a work book on sale) but the twins play HARD with everything that is out on display.

A couple weeks ago during our visit we had the pleasure of meeting the owner Mary Thomas, of course I went into blogger mode and asked if she wouldn't mind being featured in one of my posts. Thankfully she agreed and shared a little about herself and how she started SCRIBBLES.

MrsDeveter: Thanks again for agreeing to chat with me. Can you share a little bit of the history behind SCRIBBLES?

Mary Thomas: We started on a kiosks 13 years ago in the Menlo Park Mall. We were doing personalized piggy banks, rocking chairs, toy boxes all kinds of fun things for 10 years. Then it became a little bit to much so we closed. It was a boring staying at home so we opened the first store and expanded beyond the personalized items into toys and other cool things.

MrsDeveter: Like I told you before we can come here and stay for hours. Why did you branch out into toys and make the store so interactive?

Mary Thomas: Because it's fun. In retail everyone does clothes, clothes aren't fun. Kids are easy. They love everything, they are happy and love to play. I've found that no matter who they are the kids get along especially at the Thomas table they love to play together. The children get along so well, it's the adults that need to learn that. Sometimes they don't share... but they play well together and it's fun.

MrsDeveter: What was your 9-5 before SCRIBBLES?

Mary Thomas: I had three kids. I worked in the city for a publishing company but it was hard to to go back and forth. My husband also worked in the city and said he'd prefer it if I worked closer to home. So I started working retail. He would work in the day and I would go out for a few hours at night.

MrsDeveter: What advise would you give to anyone looking to get into retail.

Mary Thomas: Everything chances. Before I opened everyone told me not to go into retail because I was going into business at the wrong time. In 2008 that's when the market crashed. Manufactures, friends everyone told me not to do it, but I said ... people buy toys. I had a wonderful location to start and it worked.

MrsDeveter: So your advice would be ... don't listen to anybody's advice.

Mary Thomas: (chucking) yes. You have to feel it inside and know what's right for you.

If you are ever in Edison NJ please stop by and visit Mary and the ladies at SCRIBBLES she is located in the Menlo Park Mall steps away from The Disney Store and Build a Bear on the lower level of the Nordstrom wing. If you are looking to order online please visit www.scribblesatmenlo.com for great personalized gifts for children.

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About Me

I am the proud mother of three beautiful children, the wife to the most creative, loyal, funny and sexy man alive, daughter to a woman who has gone above and beyond the call of duty regarding her children and just an all around fun person on a fabulous life I call a journey.